Thanksgiving in Israel

I had the best turkey of my life this past Thursday.

The Turkey on the smoker.

I'll get back to the Turkey in a paragraph or two, but first a little background. Thanksgiving is easily my favorite US holiday. Ironically, Yom Kippur is now my favorite holiday, but only in Israel. I love that nobody drives, the air is clear, and that I can take bike rides on major highways without fear of being run over. Thanksgiving though will always be a special day for me, even in Israel, and every year that I've lived here I've made a point of making a full on turkey dinner. I use my mother's excellent Paul Simon recipe. I call it that because it calls for putting chopped Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme under the skin of the bird. It is a great recipe and the turkey always comes out well.

7 hours later...it is the best turkey I've ever had

This year I decided not to make a turkey or host a dinner, and was kindly invited by my friends Susi and Dave to their house for dinner. I made the trek out to Jerusalem, and just entering their house you could tell something special was going on. Susi and Dave decided to smoke their turkey, and I had never tasted smoked turkey before. The turkey was smoked on low heat for over seven hours, and the result was amazing. Instead of trying to use a dozen different superlatives to describe the taste, I'll just use three. It was just the moistest, juiciest, tastiest turkey I'd ever had. The smoke flavor really came through, and it was just an awesome, awesome turkey.

A lot of happy people

Every once in a while I get a culinary eye opening, eureka type moment. My first time at Abu Hassan, Adora's foie gras baklava, tasting cold pressed olive oil from olives you picked a few hours earlier are some of the recent ones from the past few years. This turkey definitely goes on this list if not going straight to the top of it. The whole night was a lot fun between the tasty turkey, good friends, and lots of wine. Thanksgiving lives on in Israel quite strongly for me and I'm already thinking about next year's smoked turkey.

Thanksgiving in Israel

The best thing about Thanksgiving is...

...turkey sandwiches the next day. I love waking up the day after Thanksgiving and foraging through the leftovers in the fridge to prepare an incredible sandwich.

I like to toast the bread and spread a high quality mayo on both sides. I love Hellman's mayonnaise. I don't think any other brand even comes close. (I'm going to write a blog post just about Hellman's mayonnaise) This morning I used some of the leftover arugula, sliced a tomato, and fried an egg. Fried eggs make everything taste better. Hashes, sandwiches, huevos rancheros, everything. (I'm going to have write another blog post just about fried eggs) This sandwich is the epitome of Thanksgiving to me, and the holiday would not be complete without one.

The best thing about Thanksgiving is...

Thanksgiving Recipes

Why I'm posting my turkey recipe after Thanksgiving and not before is a legitimate question...but better late than never.

Asian flavored Thanksgiving Turkey

Ingredients:
Turkey - size will vary
Cilantro - one package
Lemongrass - 3-4 stalks
Ginger - 1 good sized knob
Garlic - 4 cloves
Jalapeno - entire pepper
Red Curry Paste - 3 tablespoons
Olive Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

Salt Pepper - to season

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 325 F. Prepare your turkey for the oven. Cut off the neck, take out the innards, clean the outside of any protruding feathers that are still slightly sticking out. Cut under the skin on the top of the bird, so that you can lift up the skin to place the herb mixture underneath.

2. Finely chop the cilantro, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and jalapeno and place in bowl. Add curry paste and mix in well. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to season. Lift up the turkey skin and spread the mixture as evenly as possible around the top of the turkey and next to the legs. Season the top of the bird with salt and pepper and drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil. Spread evenly on the outside of the turkey. Tie the legs together so they don't fall to the sides and tear the skin. Stuff the cavity with half an orange and half an onion. These give off juices, instead of soaking them up.

3. Place the turkey in an oven tray uncovered and place in the oven for 30 minutes so the outside can start to brown. After 30 minutes add a cup or two of water or white wine to the tray. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and place a thermometer in the turkey breast, being careful not to touch the bone.

4. Cook the turkey until the turkey reaches 165 F. This is enough to kill the salmonella and other bacteria, yet not overcook the turkey.

5. Take out the turkey when ready and let rest for approximately 30 minutes so the juices don't run out upon carving. Enjoy!

Tips: Do not stuff the turkey with bread or any food that will soak up the turkey juices and dry it out. Additionally, if you do insist on stuffing your turkey make sure the temperature of the stuffing also reaches 165 F. Often the stuffing is at a lower temperature than the breast meat, and if not cooked enough can increase the chance of salmonella poisoning.

The Turkey right before carving

Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving in Israel

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving in whatever country they found themselves in this year. To accommodate the lack of a national holiday here and people's work schedule I celebrated Thanksgiving last night...on a Friday. My Shabbat Thanksgiving was delicious, a lot of fun, and reaffirmed Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday. First, a little Thanksgiving trivia. How fast can an adult Turkey run? The answer will come later in this post.

Joining me last night were my good old friends Becca, Alon, Tina, and David and my good new friends, Shiri and Ido, whom I met last night. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is actually the preparation of the meal, and the mini-courses I prepare before the main event. Once I got the turkey in the oven (more on the turkey later) I started making a stock using the classic french mirepoix, some of the left over veggies that went into the seasonings on the turkey, and the left over turkey neck. By the way, what do you call a baby turkey? (Answer later on in this post) Shiri made some guacamole and around 230 pm we had a nice bowl of spicy turkey soup with chips and guacamole. Oh, I had my first glass of wine, of many, at this time too. I had been really excited to cook the innards of the turkey (the liver, kidneys, etc..) and was disappointed upon picking up my turkey to learn that these had been thrown away. Not my first choice, but I bought some chicken livers and cooked them in the broth of the spicy turkey soup. I placed them on some thinly sliced cooked beets and had chicken liver on beet carpaccio. Yes, I was pretty full at this point, and the turkey wasn't even out of the oven yet. (Answer to the trivia questions: 20 miles per hour, and a poult)

I made an asian flavored (see the recipe in the previous post) turkey that I think was cooked perfectly. The breast meat was really juicy and nobody asked for gravy. We had stuffing (gluten free for Becca) a great quinoa/beet salad, a greenbean and chestnut dish, sweet potato and pecan pie, brownies, cranberry sauce, cranberry crumble, and more. Everything was delicious, the conversation was great, and it was a very memorable thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving in Israel

Happy Thanksgiving!

True, I live in Israel, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving for a lot of reasons, but the food is the primary one. Even in Israel I look forward to each year bringing this bit of Americana into my life.

I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I will be blogging about my Shabbat Thanksgiving (I am doing this in Israel, so you have to adapt a little) in the coming days. Pictures too!

Happy Thanksgiving!